Afyonkarahisar

Afyonkarahisar  has a continental climate and semi-arid climate with cold and snowy winters and hot and dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and autumn. Afyon is the centre of an agricultural area and the city has a country town feel to it. There is little in the way of bars, cafes, live music or other cultural amenities, and the standards of education are low for a city in the west of Turkey.

However  Afyon Kocatepe University  opened in the 1990s and this must surely lead to improvements eventually. Nowadays Afyon is known for its marble (in 2005 there were 355 marble quarries in the province of Afyon producing high quality white stone), its sucuk (spiced sausages), its kaymak (meaning either cream or a white Turkish Delight) and various handmade weavings.

There is also a large cement factory. This is a natural crossroads, the routes from  Ankara  to  Izmir  and from  Istanbul  to  Antalya  intersect here and Afyon is a popular stopping-place on these journeys. There are a number of well-established roadside restaurants for travellers to breakfast on the local cuisine. Some of these places are modern well-equipped hotels and spas; the mineral waters of Afyon are renowned for their healing qualities. There is also a long string of roadside kiosks selling the local  Turkish delight. Afyon is also an important railroad junction between  Izmir ,  Konya ,  Ankara  and  Istanbul.

Its name shortened by “Afyon”, which means opium.